Audit says ex-sheriff may have broken eight laws

Tuesday

Jul 30, 2013 at 11:05 AM

Terrebonne's former sheriff may have violated at least eight state laws, according to auditors who reviewed spending during his term.

Jean-Paul ArguelloStaff Writer

Terrebonne's former sheriff may have violated at least eight state laws, according to auditors who reviewed spending during his term.The 23-page report details a litany of wrongdoing, primarily using public money for personal gain, that could result in criminal charges, authorities said.A report released Monday by the state Legislative Auditor's Office alleges that Vernon Bourgeois used public money to attend football games, NASCAR races and sightseeing trips and took more than $16,000 in vacation pay that he shouldn't have.Bourgeois has already been told he must repay more than $19,000, an amount that he's agreed to return “under protest,” the audit says.Copies of the report were forwarded to the Terrebonne District Attorney's Office, the state Attorney General's Office and the state Ethics Board, which all have authority to determine whether laws were violated.Terrebonne District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr. said he hadn't yet reviewed the report but he would likely allow the state to assume responsibility for any subsequent inquiry.“My understanding is they are going to address it, and if that is the case, there will be no reason for me to duplicate their work,” Waitz said of the state offices that got copies.Representatives at each of those offices declined comment Monday, saying they had not yet reviewed the audit report.Attempts to contact Bourgeois have been unsuccessful, but he previously denied any wrongdoing.If Bourgeois is found to have violated state ethics laws, he faces fines of up to $10,000 per violation and could be required to pay one-and-a-half times any ill-gotten gains.If he's deemed to have violated state law, he could have to answer to the charge in court, though it's too soon to say whether state prosecutors will pursue the case.Bourgeois served one four-year term in office, stepping down in June after opting not to run again. Sheriff Jerry Larpenter, who served nearly two decades before stepping aside to wage a failed bid for parish president, ordered a separate private audit of Bourgeois' administration upon his July return to the post.That private audit detailed wrongdoing, some of which the subsequent state audit also pointed out. Examples in the latest audit include:- Bourgeois, his wife and two deputies traveled to a Nevada convention for free on a private plane and he used his Sheriff's Office credit card to pay for the pilot's hotel stay and food.- He cashed out “unused vacation time” five days prior to leaving office and took a $600 annual clothing allowance, a perk intended to provide detectives and others who don't wear uniforms with the professional clothing needed for court appearances and similar work functions. Those payments pushed his annual salary above the amount set by law by about $18,000, the audit says.- Bourgeois also failed to collect about $395,000 in property taxes from Neil Suard, owner of Baby Oil Inc., and didn't seize the Houma company's property, as required by law, to satisfy the delinquent bill, the audit says.Bourgeois provided auditors with vague answers. For example, he said a sheriff whose name he could not recall told him it was OK to take the unused vacation pay.But Larpenter said no sheriff is allowed vacation pay under any circumstances.“If he didn't know, he sure as hell should've known,” he said. “It's like Johnny got his hand caught in the cookie jar and he's blaming his brother.”The audit details the alleged misdeeds and the laws that may have been violated. The list includes:- Theft, which carries a penalty of fines and up to 10 years in prison depending on the value of the item or service.- Unauthorized use of a moveable, in this case the Sheriff's Office cars that were taken to sporting events in Louisiana and elsewhere. A conviction could result in fines and up to five years in prison.- Taking money or anything of economic value for a public service, a violation of state ethics laws. The penalty is decided by the Ethics Board.- Malfeasance, the term used when a public servant intentionally refuses or fails to perform required duties. The penalty is up to five years in jail and fines of up to $5,000.The other three alleged violations pertain to Baby Oil and about $350,000 worth of free renovations on a Savanne Road building now used by a private contractor to house an inmate work-release program.The law requires collection of annual taxes or that property be seized and sold to settle the tax debt, neither of which happened in the case of Baby Oil, auditors said.State law also prohibits giving away public property or other things of value, such as inmate labor, to another “person, association or corporation, public or private.”